During the data 8-11, at the AMVV in April 6 consultation meetings with the Technical Working Group of the Performance Indicators System, which will remain for the year 2024.

EDUCATION FIELD – APRIL 8

The focus of the meeting in its field was the improvement of Preschool Education at the level levels, through the analysis of several keys related to access and standards of service provision in kindergartens and kindergartens.

During the meeting and addressing an importance, underlining their role in measuring development and progress in this sector. Guidelines on their challenges in providing them are data for children by age group, the lack of data from the private sector, as well as the need to share information by public and private kindergartens, in order to more accurately reflect the fact at the local level. The discussions were open and inclusive, with clients of open assets and representatives of the centers, which contribute to determining the necessary steps to improve the preschool education system in the country’s municipalities.

GOOD GOVERNANCE AREA – APRIL 8

The meeting in the Good Governance area focused on discussing and assessing transparency indicators at the local level. During the meeting, it was emphasized that the proposed list of new indicators will require more details regarding the method of calculation and verification of their validity. It was also announced that the Commissioner for the Right to Information and Personal Data Protection published the Transparency Report for 2024 in February 2025. AMVV confirmed that the Commissioner will share the full list of indicators and results for all 61 municipalities for 2024.

The expert team will review this report and propose a refined list of 5 indicators to be included in the framework of the SMP 2024. It was also emphasized that although the data for some of the indicators to be selected may be available to the Commissioner, this data will be collected again from the municipalities within the framework of the SMP 2024.

AGRICULTURE – APRIL 9

The focus of the meeting in the field of Agriculture was to strengthen the process of measuring and reporting services in the irrigation and drainage sector at the local level. During the discussions, it was unanimously approved to replace the existing indicator for the maintenance of irrigation and drainage canals with a new indicator, which assesses the level of their functionality.

The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development also proposed the addition of indicators based on a broader list of indicators available to the Ministry itself. AMVV requested the distribution of the full list with the 14 current indicators for review by experts and it was agreed that the indicator: Percentage of functional irrigation and drainage canals should be included in future assessments.

FORESTRY, PASTURE AND WASTE MANAGEMENT AREA – APRIL 10

The meeting focused on the Forestry, Pasture and Waste Management area was held with the aim of improving the measurement and reporting of services at the local level, within the framework of the SMP 2024. The discussions focused on the assessment of current indicators and on strengthening the municipalities’ approach to sustainable territorial planning and management. The indicators used during the last year’s exercise were considered valid to continue in the 2024 cycle, while the importance of following up management plans with concrete implementation and continuous monitoring was underlined.

In the Waste Management area, the discussions focused on improving service measurement and harmonizing reporting methodologies. During the meeting, the importance of disaggregating data on service coverage by urban and rural areas was emphasized, based on the description of the service passport used in the 2023 SMP cycle and the INSTAT methodology, in order to avoid multiple measurements of the same indicator in different ways. The other indicators, used in the 2023 cycle, will remain unchanged for 2024.

PROJECTS AREA – APRIL 10

The focus of the meeting in the Projects area was the review of the indicators used in the SMP 2023 report, as these indicators, unlike other SMP indicators, have not been included in the official passport of defined indicators, but have been included in the report as a very important area related to the absorption of projects by the European Union and other important donors.

During the meeting, the importance of a clear and comprehensive definition of the term “municipal project” was underlined, and the need for a clear definition of the scope of the project category was also discussed — specifically, whether only projects financed by the European Union should be included, or also those supported by other international donors or national funds. Another point of discussion was the methodology for measuring data: whether projects should be recorded based on implementation within a calendar year or in a cumulative form over several years.

At the end of the discussions, it was proposed to add a field for European Integration where there will be indicators focusing on projects, European integration, diaspora and migration, as well as performance structures in the municipality.

SOCIAL SERVICES AREA – APRIL 11

The last meeting held was in the social services area, with a focus on discussing indicators of social protection and gender equality. During the meeting, it was agreed that the three indicators used in the 2023 SMP exercise will remain valid for the 2024 cycle. New indicators suggested for addition to the 2024 SMP were also presented. The indicators focus on the response to reported cases of domestic violence, as well as support for victims. The new indicator approved for this area was: Total number of reported cases of domestic violence by gender, age and type of violence. Regarding the second indicator suggested for addition, it will come as a proposal from the list of services available to the Ministry of Health, Social Affairs and Family.

Regarding gender equality, indicators were adopted separate from the indicator used in the SMP 2023, as well as the new proposed indicator related to: Percentage of local budget allocated to gender equality in each local budget program. The discussions were open and inclusive, with active participation from experts and representatives of the Ministry, who contributed to defining the necessary steps to improve social services and advance gender equality at the local level.